It’s time for one last scare.
The hit horror franchise “The Conjuring” is summoning up its fourth and final movie, titled “Last Rites,” at the box office this weekend. The R-rated Warner Bros. movie has made $8.5 million in Thursday previews, the largest for the entire franchise and for a horror movie this year.
Produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster and The Safran Company, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” is expected to open with around $50 million this weekend. However, some estimates are a little higher at $55 million, while Warner Bros. is playing it more safe with a $35 million projection.
The final “Conjuring” movie is hoping to go out with a bang and earn the highest opening of the series. The 2013 original horror, which introduced franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, holds the record with its $41.9 million opening; it made $3.3 million from Thursday previews. The sequel, 2016’s “The Conjuring II,” had $3.4 million in previews on its way to a $40.4 million launch. The most recent entry, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” launched in 2021 simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max amid the pandemic; it scared up $65.6 million total in North America during its run while many theaters were shuttered.
Director Michael Chaves returns from “The Devil Made Me Do It” to give the Warrens their most terrifying case yet. It follows a real-life haunting of a Pennsylvania home in 1986, where the homeowners believed a demon was terrorizing them. The movie’s cast includes Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder and more.
Also opening this weekend is Disney’s “Hamilton,” a taping of the Broadway hit by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It was originally supposed to hit the big screen in 2021 but arrived early on Disney+ in 2020 during the pandemic. It’s expected to make $6 million to $7 million this weekend. It made $850,000 in Thursday previews.